Facebook Beta for Windows Phone updated

The slick new Facebook Beta app for Windows Phone, which was released at the end of April, and saw some bug fixes and minor improvements a few days later, has just received its second update. Version 5.0.1.2 doesn't seem to come with a change log at all, so it's not quite clear what exactly is new.

Given that this is still a beta and only got a slight version number bump, we're guessing this is just some more bug fixes. At any rate, even with whatever bugs remain, it's a huge improvement over the original Facebook app. If you haven't tried it yet, you really ought to. You can get it here for free.

Be sure to report any bugs and suggestions to the developers in the Settings > About section of the app. Your input will help lead to a better user experience.

Facebook Beta for Windows Phone updated

I was using this on my 820..today updated the app and the main screen doesn't show any updates..
swiping to right and left are working and there I can see all chat frnds and settings..but on main screen no updates..its just blank..anybody with the issue/suggestions..
I even re-installed it but no use..

You can call it slick all you want - and I appreciate your argument in favour of metro not being a limitation but a guideline - but I still think it looks generic and boring, sorry. In the podcast you compared it to Fuse, but I think this exactly shows how something can be metro 2.0 without falling back into pure inter-platform boredom.

Yes but then Facebook don't pull down all Facebook apps because nit every Facebook app is stealing the name etc. So what I said: it isn't entirely sure which apps are going to survive. But it is clear to me so why would you say that

It is still metro dude... in fact it's more proper metro than the previous app... you're simply wanting it to reflect the default basic developer template which doesn't really suit this type of purpose for this app.
See my comment here:http://www.wpcentral.com/comment/385496#comment-385496

My Lumia 920 does not seem to be getting anywhere near as hot with this release. Knock on wood. I was able to cook a very small steak with the last release, which depending upon how you look at it might actually be a neat feature in a smartphone.

They fixed a couple of issues i said about, one where if you view a picture in landscape you'd see the edge of the messenger screen and one where your notifications wouldn't count as read until you closed the notification pop up
Seems a bit quicker too :)

I preferred the older version with Metro Style GUI. Metro GUI is really something new in the world of mobile applications ... and WP applications should be designed consistently without the need to ' chase ' ios or Android GUI. Nokia Lumia 920

I don't think you understand the difference between the Metro UI principles and the default developer template. The Beta app is stlll Metro, in fact, it's even more Metro than the previous app is.

Metro UI is simply about minimialism, clearn flat colours, putting content first and only key nav elements up front. This new app does exactly that: all the content is up front and bigger than before, it only shows the key nav elements, and all the sub features are hidden in the swipe menus, and of course the cleaner flatter colours.

You're simply used to the default dev template, which is what the designer of the Metro UI was talking about. That template was meant as a starting point for devs, not the basis of metro. Most of the apps are lazy attempts from some devs who didn't actually DESIGN their apps, but instead just used or customized the default template. That template doesn't work for all apps, as the Metro designer said, the UI was designed for it to be creative and it shouldn't be the same for every app as each app serves a different purpose, so it doesn't make sense that they all have the same horizontal scroll panning. The new Beta app does this really well and still sticks within the Metro principles. Hope that helps you and others who think this is not metro understand. :)

PS:Hello Ladies and Gents, please help me out with this. I just got a lumia 520; great phone awesome OS. (My first WP). But I'm having one weird issue. The back light below the capactive keys below the display don't light up in the dark i.e no backlight at all. Is there any one out there with the same problem? Is there a way to turn it on? Is this the same with the 620? Pls help as this is ruining my WP experience.

Is there a way to search for new friends??? On the old app when you go to friends and type in the search box you can scroll left or right to search friends / everyone. On this beta I can't find a option to search everyone and look for new friends. If I'm overlooking it can someone tell me how to search for a new friend. Thanks

Ahhhh that makes sense. I looked for a couple of hours trying this and that to search new friends. I commented in this thread and then updated. I got that reply and went and that search bar was there. I was thinking I was crazy for not seeing it. Then I tried to justify it to myself by saying well it's grayish black. Hahaha glad to know I'm not crazy and they added it in this update.
I'm still grateful zazouboy pointed it out to me. This app is really shaping up.

I don't know if anyone else had this problem but previously if I had opened the fb app and then locked the phone with the fb app still opened and then unlocked the phone after a min or so, the app would be unresponsive, the content area would go all black with only the top blue bars visible, I had to press the home button and relaunch the app to fix it.

I'm glad that it has been fixed in this update, keep them updates rolling Microsoft.

I am very excited that they have been working on the new Facebook app. Only one thing I hope they have working by the time it's finalized: notifications for group messages. The built in messaging app doesn't support group Facebook messaging. It sounds trivial to me as I type this, but missing entire conversations that have been going on all day about dinner and movie plans with friends sucks.

People continue not to understand what the Metro design language is. This app doesn't break it. It advances it. This is not some straight iOS clone, compare them side to side; there's small but important differences in the designs.

Microsoft can't afford to be too different with something as big as Facebook. A major app like that needs to look similar to the iOS and Android versions for two reasons: 1) Consistency. Facebook changes the design of their site and if it's a major change, then the app gets updated too. 2) Recognition. People are looking for a similar experience for extremely popular apps like Facebook, Twitter, and hopefully Instagram (yes, I know it isn't available for WP yet).
The Facebook beta app better represents Facebook.com while retaining some Metro design features. I think it looks great. Also, app tabs (pivot control) isn't a requirement of the Metro design language.

They removed the search buttons in the left and right swipe menu. First it was down on the WP button bar, now the search bars show up permanently above and if you swipe the button bar disappears. Nice improvement.

I don't understand... it seems pretty clear that their intention is to pull ALL fb apps that use their name and/or icon... what's unclear? All they have to do is redesign to not steal the fb name and icon and then they can come back.

"Social Scout" used to work as the Facebook JDB app once it was integrated. Not sure how it behaves standalone though. Just wait for few days, i'm sure the developer will rename the app and re-publish in the store.

Have you guys got the original FB app still installed? I was also getting bad battery life after installing the Beta app, but once I removed the original FB, it improved dramatically. It is possible having both releases installed affect battery life in a bad way. Just a thought.

I had the battery issue from the first release of the beta. Dropped it and went back to the original (battery problems resolved). I can wait until they get all the bugs/issues fixed. I'd rather have battery life than a FB app.

Sometimes Unpinning the tile and repining the tile or just launching it straight from the app list helps. If you already tried that... Uninstall it and download it again. If you already tried that well then just sit there and read on lol

I agree. Nothing wrong with the Metro style, but this is not their product and it's best to have it work and act like all the other platforms and certainly the web app. This is a fairly good product and it's already less quirky than the current production version, which isn't saying much I know

Its not complaining. We're not children.. It's called input, and its our opinion.. Believe it or not developers of these apps read these comments, and there are some members from the WP team on here from time to time. So, its a good place to, as you say, "complain"